Pipe making machines



L. TONIOLO ETAL May 24, 1960 PIPE MAKING MACHINES 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 14, 1956 y 1960 TONIOLO ETAL 2,937,701

PIPE MAKING MACHINES Filed May 14, 1956 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 May 24, 1960 1.. TONIOLO ETA!- 2,937,701

PIPE MAKING MACHINES Filed May 14, 1956 4 Sheets-$heet 3 P76 30 F/G 3b FIG 36 F/G 30' F/G. 40 FIG 417 FIG? 4a F/G 40' May 24, 1960 1.. TONIOLO ET AL 2,937,701

PIPE MAKING MACHINES Filed May 14, 1956 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 62a Q 52" 18 a Z f g 46a United States Patent O 2,937,101 PIPE MAKING MACHINES Luciano Toniolo, 11 Via Filangeri, Turin, Italy, and Giralamo Garbin, 10 Via Francesco Redi, Milan, Italy Filed May 14, 1956, Ser. No. 584,767

Claims priority, application Great Britain May 13, 1955 2 Claims. (Cl. 162-284) This invention relates to improvements in machines for manufacturing pipes by winding on a mandrel a continuous layer of fibrous material mixed with a binder, e.g., of asbestos fibres mixed with a cement slurry or other fibrous material such as cellulose, cotton, blast furnace slag fibres or synthetic fibres mixed with hydraulic binders other than cement such as lime, silicates and fluosilicates, with or without fillers such as quartz silicate and marble powder.

The known machines of the kind referred to above are objectionable because they must be stopped every time the pipe forming operation on the mandrel is accomplished in order to remove the mandrel and to replace it with a fresh bare mandrel. This causes a waste of time so that the output of the machine is limited.

Moreover, in the known machines, the means used for introducing bare mandrels in the machine and for placing them in their operative position in the latter and for effecting the withdrawal of the mandrels with the pipes wound thereon are rather intricate in structure. Another disadvantage of known machines is that, commonly, they are not adapted for use with mandrels having different diameters, especially when said diameters vary within a wide range.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a machine of the kind referred to equipped with means which permit introducing fresh bare mandrels therein and withdrawing therefrom mandrels with pipes wound thereon, all the operations being carried out without stopping the machine so that the operation of the machine is continuous.

Another object of the invention is to provide in a machine of the kind referred to, means for permitting continuous operation as specified above and which means are of simple structure, low cost, and involve simple operation, and which may be used in machines of various structures. A special object of the invention is to provide means for continuous operation of machines provided with an endless belt adapted to be run over the mandrel so as to compress pipe forming material disposed on the mandrel.

Another object of the invention is to provide in a machine of the kind referred to, means for permitting con tinuous operation as specified above and which render the machine adapted to operate with mandrels the diameters of which vary within a wide range.

.With this and other objects in view, the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, 'in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a pipe making machin according to the invention;

Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the machine shown in Fig. 1, taken along line I'I--II, a portion of the machine being broken away;

Figs. Zia-3d, 4a-4d and 5a5c show, in side elevations, three embodiments of a device for stopping mandrels in their pipe making positions in the machine according to Fig. 1, there being shown in each set of figures successive positions for various of the operating elements;

Fig; 6 is a side elevation of a structural detail of the device shown in Figs. 3a-3d.

As shown in Fig. l a filter cylinder 10 is partly immersed in a tank 12 containing an aqueous suspension of forming cylinder or mandrel 18 lying between the lower cement and asbestos fibres which it takes up as a thin film and passes to a first or lower felt 14, which is driven through a motor driven cylinder or roller 16, acting like a pulley.

A pipe of predetermined thickness is formed on a from the machine, carried to a calendar and then to an extracting machine, which removes the mandrel from the finished pipe, the bare mandrel being returned to the pipe machine.

In accordance with the invention, mandrels are brought on the machine on its rear end in the space M before and outside the frame 21, viz: in the free space M where neither frame nor upper felt 20 can hinder this operation.

From the space M, mandrels can then travel through space N, traveling towards the pipe-making position along a path parallel to the lower felt; so that their motion direction is the same as felt direction, and not contrary or perpendicular thereto.

The mandrels are brought by any suitable means to the space M at the rear end of the machine .and for guiding the mandrels through the. space M and space N and to the pipe making position, there is provided a pair of guide rails 30 which are arranged one on each side of the machine and along the lower felt 14 and parallel to it. The mandrels proceed from said rear end smoothly to the position 18d, without any interruption.

Fig. 2 shows that the mandrels 18 are a little wider than the cylinder 16 and all the other rollers and cylinders so as to be able to rest on the rails 30.

The rails may extend beyond thepipe-making section of the machine, to a calendar (not shown) and then to an extracting machine (not shown) where the pipes are removed from the mandrels, and these transfers can be performed without hoists, cranes and the like. But we do not claim the operations outside the pipe making machine; we wish only to point out that the pipe making operation of the invention is well suited for combination with other pipe making operations. t

The arrangement whereby the pipes advance to th above the lower felt 14 until they are close to the lower cylinder 16, where the rails tilt and the -mandrels: go;

down onto the felt 14 and immediately afterwards, onto the under-cylinder 16.

The rails 30, are shown as sloping so that the mandrels roll forwards naturally. If the rails are horizontal suitable mechanical means must be provided to move the mandrels.

Patented May 24, 1960 Fig. 1 shows another advantage which is peculiar to this invention. According to the invention it is possible to accumulate (to store as working reserve) on the rails a certain number of mandrels. These are ready to proceed automatically as described. For example, with a machine of the invention, 25 mandrels of 100 mm. diameter can be stored on the machine to provide a mandrel supply sufficient for 20 minutes operation of the machine. With prior art machines employing 100 mm. mandrels, machine operation would be interrupted every 50 seconds to change the mandrel. Similarly, 10, 200 mm. mandrels can be stored on the machine for 20 minutes operation, and with prior art machines, it would be necessary to interrupt operation every 2 minutes.

The operation of devices for checking the mandrels at the pipe making position can be realized by suitable mechanical means such as is shown in Figs. 3a-3d, 4a- 4d and 5a-5c.

Figs. 3a-3d show a mandrel 18 which has just reached the operative position shown by the broken lines where it is stopped by a pair of arms 44, another pair of stop arms 46 is then raised to prevent the mandrel 18 from moving back; the raised pressure device 22, 24 is then lowered to keep the mandrel firmly in the right position during the operation and the stop arms 44 and 46 are lowered.

These operations are accomplished in four steps, as shown in the figure.

The details of one example of the stopping device can be seen from Fig. 6 which shows the pairs of arms 44 and 46 as each having a roller 50 or 52 adjustably fixed in any position along the arms. The arms 44 and 46 are pivotally mounted by pins 60 and 6 1, respectively, on pedestals 64, and are provided, respectively, with elongated slots 44a and 46a. The roller 50 is provided with end pins 50a which are journaled in roller supports 63 and the roller supports 63 are secured to the arms 44 by bolts 63a which are received in the elongated slots 44a. The position of the roller supports 63 in the slots 44a can be adjusted by manipulation of the bolts 63a. Similarly, pins 52a journaled in roller supports 62 and the roller supports 62 are secured to the arms 46 by bolts 62a which are received in slots 46a, and the position of roller 52 can be adjusted by manipulation of bolts 62a. Preferably, the arm is in the stop position at 45 inclination. Each pair of rollers 50 and 52 can be shifted along the arms as shown at 50', 52', 50", 52" so as to accommodate mandrels having different diameters, as indicated by broken lines in the drawing, and maintain the 45 inclination of arms 44 and 46. In case of an inclination other than 45 the stopping device may be constructed so as to permit the roller to shift not only along the arm but also perpendicularly to the arm. The rollers 50 and 52 are short and only engage the bare ends of the mandrels, which project from the machine.

Figs. 4a-4d illustrate the operation of a modified stopping device, in which the roller 24 is situated lower than the roller 22. When the pressure device is lifted by the extent required for clearing the roller 22 of the mandrel, the roller 24 holds the latter. In order to prevent a backward movement of the mandrel, a pair of arms 46 are subsequently lifted. The pressure device 22-24' is then lowered, so that roller 22 exerts on the mandrel the required radial pressure. On completion of the pipe the pressure device is lifted so that both rollers are cleared of the mandrel and the pipe thereon.

When the mandrel 18 has passed on the arm 46 is lowered and the pressure device is lowered partially to the first stop position.

The roller 24' is not intended to exert so heavy a pressure as the roller 22, but to act as a felt-guide, that is to keep the upper felt 20 in contact with the mandrels 18 besides serving to stop the mandrels as described. Its connection with the body of the pressure device must not be rigid and it is therefore spring loaded (as shown) or connected by a lever with a counterweight or by similar means. The roller 24 should be adjustable to accommodate mandrels of different diameters. The roller 24' can be replaced by two short rollers acting only on the bare ends of the mandrel which project from the machine. roller 22.

Figs. 511-50 show a third device in which the pressure device again has but one roller 22, a roller arm 54 being arranged before the cylinder 16 and somewhat higher. The roller arm 54 can be displaced to the right or left preferably through 45 to accommodate different mandrels. It can also act as a guide for the felt 14 so that the felt passes and contacts the mandrel for a substantial extent and not only just over the cylinder 16, and tangentially to the mandrel.

The roller 54 is kept against the mandrel 18 by any suitable means such as a lever with a counterweight 54a, as shown, or by a spring or a pneumatic or hydraulic piston.

In the first step of the operation the pressure roller 22 is raised and a pair of arms 44 raised to the stop position. In the second step the pressure roller 22 is lowered to exert the necessary pressure. In the third step the pressure roller 22 is raised and the arms 44 lowered to allow the coated mandrel to move on.

Other stopping devices can be arranged by combining the features of the devices described above.

All the stopping devices described above can be applied to machines operating with a lower felt 14 and without the upper felt 20 provided that the rollers 22 and 24 be either constructed of or coated with appropriate materials which will permit working under such conditions.

WhatIclaimis:

1. In a machine for manufacturing pipes by means of winding on a mandrel a layer of fibrous material mixed with binder of asbestos fibres mixed with a cement slurry, of the type comprising an endless felt conveyor having a lower run and an upper run carrying said layer, a felt driving roller for moving the felt and for supporting and rotating the mandrel in its pipe making position, and means for compressing said layer wound on the mandrel, the combination of a pair of parallel guides for carrying and guiding said mandrels at the opposite end portions of the latter and for storing said mandrels, said guides extending along the upper run of said conveyor and above the latter and intersecting the plane of the upper run of the conveyor near the driving roller supporting the mandrel on which said layer is wound in its operative position and of means for arresting the mandrels in said operative position.

2. The combination as set forth in claim 1, wherein said guides are sloped towards said driving roller.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,479,149 Mattei et al Jan. 1, 1924 1,497,344 Parker June 10, 1924 1,717,236 MacMenigall June 11, 1929 2,430,411 Rembert Nov. 4, 1947 The upper felt 20 is then guided only by the J UNITED STATES PATENT oEFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 2,937,701 May 24, 1960 Luciano Toniolo et al.

I It 'is' hereby certified that error appears in the above numbered patent requiring correction and that the said Letters Patent should read as corrected below.

' In the grant, lines 1 and 11, and in the heading to the printed specification, line 4, name of second inventor, for

"Giralamo Garbin", each occurrence, read Girolamo I G'arbin KARL'H. AXLINE y Signed and sealed this 6th day of December 1960,.

I (SEAL) Attest:

p ROBERT C. wATsoiv fleeting- Officer Conm'issioner of Patents 

